Southend United Ball Boy

The weekend before last Brandon was invited to be a ball boy for the day for the Southend United Vs Wexham game at Roots Hall. Whilst the game wasn't great Brandon had an absolute blast and it was a really good opportunity for him to bond further with his new team. In addition to that he got to have a tour around the stadium and meet all the first team players as well as having front row seats for the game.

As Tina was sleeping after working nights I had to take Joshua and Brandon with me as well. So another first for Holly as this was her first proper football match experience. She lasted about 15 mins before getting bored and then sitting on her IPad.

Academy U14's in their ball boy tracksuits and making a guard of honour for the players.

Typical Brandon looking away from the camera.

There he is.

Waiting on the sidelines for the players to be ready to enter on to the pitch.

Last minute instructions for the team.

Back stage and getting a briefing on what is expected and how to behave as a ball boy.

Brandon's new football team at Southend - the Academy U14's.

Out come the Wexham players.

He refused a picture with the Southend mascot though!

Academy Soccer U14's with the Southend United first team.

Academy U14's with Sammy the shrimp.

New Football Season - New Start - New Team - New Manager/Coach

Despite Brandon and his Hashtag team having an amazing season last year by winning their division, Brandon has decided on a new start for 21/22 year. It come as some what a surprise to me when about 2 months ago he said he had friends at Academy Soccer (an arch rival to Hashtag who we have played many times) and they had invited him to train. 

After a few training sessions with Academy they offered Brandon a position on their team but with a change in position from his old right back to a holding midfielder position. Brandon was really up for the challenge and excited for the new opportunity and as a parent I felt he was old enough and mature enough to make the decision himself. Obviously as a parent and coach I laid out what I thought were the pros and cons for him staying at Hashtag or moving to Academy, but ultimately it was his decision.

It is a huge change for both me and Brandon as we have both been at Forest Glade/Hashtag since he was under 5's. For the first time in 8+ years I am now no longer Brandon's football coach and thus it is as much a change for me becoming a parent on the sideline now. Although it is early days I think Brandon has made a good decision. The level of discipline and the intensity of training at Academy is definitely a level up and will only make Brandon a better footballer. He is worried that he isn't good enough for his new team and will be fighting for a place in the starting line-up, so lets see if he can rise to the occasion.

New beginnings for Brandon as Nr 17 holding midfielder for Academy Soccer.

Warming up with his new team.

Brandon has got to prove himself yet at Academy and earn his place on the team.

But I am sure he is up to the challenge.

Brandon's new team, Academy Soccer, in their bright green kit showing respect for the Queen with a minutes silence before their first game of the season.

Orlando Florida Day 14 - Homebound

And just like that all good things have to come to an end. After 2 fantastic weeks in Orlando Florida it was time to pack our cases and check out of the Resort by 10am. The challenge here was to make sure everything we had bought would fit in to the 5 suit cases plus hand luggage. Then the next challenge was to get all of this loaded in to the car and have room for us all to sit.

We briefly contemplated going to Gatorland on our final day but by the time we checked out of the resort we figured it would be too much of a rush, plus everyone wanted to do a bit more shopping (clearly they felt I hadn't spent enough money already this holiday!). So we went to one of the outlets first and for some reason it was absolutely heaving with people. Joshua wanted some "more" trainers in the Nike shop and I kid you not, the queue was probably about 50 people long - if only you get get a Lightning Lane Pass for Nike.

After the outlet we headed over to Disney Springs for one final look around and for some food before heading to the airport. At Disney Springs Holly got to play in the Lego a bit and build a car to test down the ramp. I was tempted to buy myself a light sabre but the kids talked me out of it saying it would be a waste of money. Why on earth did I listen to them!

Anyway the airport check-in and security was once again very good. The wait for departure didn't seem too long even though we were delayed by about 30 mins. Maybe the pumpkin spice latte did the trick. On the flight home we all tried to sleep as much as we could, however one row in front of us was a special needs child who pretty much cried most of the way home. This left Brandon pulling his hair out at times and ready to explode.

Anyway Orlando was absolutely fantastic and a holiday of a lifetime for the family. I doubt I will be able to afford this again anytime in the near future and so I am pleased to have been able to given the kids this opportunity and make such great memories for them.

Holly's Lego car at Disney Springs.

This kept Holly entertained for a while.

Holly with a Princess in Disney Springs.

And one last picture before setting off for the airport.

Orlando Florida Day 13- EPCOT

Day 13 and another new park to explore. I was pretty excited about going to EPCOT for 2 reasons. Firstly we had planned to meet some of the family there (Michael, Lea, Nicky, Amy and Shay) and also I wanted to ride the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride. For GOTG you have to login in to the Disney App at 7am and try and join a virtual queue for an allotted time. This was my first failure of the day as at 7:01 all slots were booked and I failed to get on the queue. So I had one more opportunity to try and book it at 1pm. Luckily it was second time lucky.

At the entrance to Epcot I was dismally failing to explain to a non-English speaking person how to use my camera to get a picture of all 5 of us in front of the Epcot Dome. When I was just about to give up some dude came over and said "Don't worry I'll do it, I'm his brother". Pretty good timing given how busy it was and that we had not planned an agreed meet up time. Anyway we abandoned my camera and had some fantastic Photo Pass pictures taken instead.

After that we quickly headed over to the Ratatouille ride where we had a load more family Photo Pass pics taken before going on the ride itself. We then headed over to near the entrance of the park to go on the amazing Test Track. After this Min got a message saying his GOTG ride had been pulled forward and we were going to try and get a bus to the Disney Beach Club Resort which we had booked for a family breakfast, so we briefly went our own ways. Unfortunately no busses ran to the Beach Club so we ended up making another mad dash all the way to the back of the park again and out the rear entrance to to find the Beach Club Resort. After about 20-25 mins we turned up all hot and sweaty and very hungry having not eaten all morning saving ourselves for the all-you-can-eat breakfast feast that awaited..

Anyway we had a lovely breakfast together which certainly kept us nourished for the rest of the day ahead. Once back in the park we went on the Test Track again and then a few other rides before splitting up and going or separate ways again. But it was so amazing to all meet up with some family in EPCOT even if only for half a day or so.

Whilst on "Soarin Around The World" me and Min managed to login to the Disney App for bang on 1pm and I successfully got on the virtual queue for GOTG. I think in the end we managed to get on the ride at around 3:15 and it was pretty amazing. We also went on Mission Space which is amazing as somehow they seem to simulate real G-force. For the rest of the Day we managed to get on a few other rides including "Disney Frozen Ever After", "The Seas with Nemo & Friends" and the "Gran Fiesta Tour".

We was really hoping to stay and watch the light and firework show, but as usual for this time of day the inclement weather came over and boy did it rain hard this time. Needless to say we abandoned the park and headed off to find somewhere for some dinner.

Using my old camera to get a family pic at the entrance to EPCOT.

The impressive Epcot Dome.

Then we met the family and got some proper Photo Pass pictures taken at the entrance.

It was so great to meet with everyone and have a catch up.

The sassy ladies on holiday.

Work that camera girls.

What is Holly holding in her hand?

The Boys!

Flex Friday.

Clearly Brandon didn't want to flex his little guns.

Early morning view over Epcot park.

Me wearing my old Epcot t-shirt from 29 years ago.

First stop Ratatouille.

As usual very similar to Disneyland Paris, only better.

Love this pic of me, Min and Nicky.

We got some great Photo Pass pics at Ratatouille.

Yeh, the boys are actually smiling for a picture.

Another great picture from the Disney photographer.

How tall is Holly getting now????

All of us at Ratatouille.

And again.

Nicky & Lea with Daisy.

Then all the ladies with Daisy.

Min get a selfie with Daisy.

After Ratatouille it was over to the Test Track where you design and race your own car.

The Test Track is still amazing and we all really enjoyed it and ended up having a few goes. Brandon's car design annoyingly beat my first attempt.

Coming around for the final straight.

Here we go, lets test the top speed.

As you exit the ride there is a stunning C8 Corvette.

Nicky, Tina, Holly, Me and the boys on the Test Track.

Round 2 on the Test Track.

Another view of the Dome as we dashed to the back of the park for breakfast/brunch.

The Mickey waffles with syrup were pretty damn good.

All of us enjoyed a late breakfast to fuel us up for the day ahead.

Then back on the Test Track.

Holly getting in the way of my picture of the C8. Only an $86k car, I'll have two please.

Off to Mission Space next.

Then over to Norway to find the "Frozen Ever After Ride" for Holly.

Glad we had a Lightning Lane as the queue inside was massive.

Tina and H on the Frozen ride.

Where we saw Olaf.

And Sven.

And of course Elsa (I think!).

It was actually a really good little ride with a surprising bit that goes backwards.

Holly about to get told off for climbing the troll in the shop for a photo.

Our ride photo from "Frozen Ever After".

Finally our time had come to experience Guardians of the Galaxy. It wasn't looking good in the morning, but luckily at 1pm we made the virtual queue.

Killing time for those last few minutes before we can enter.

Some movie memorabilia to view as you walk through the queue.

Me and Josh on the amazing GOTG ride.

And the Brandon, Tina and H.